What should I do????!!!

[kuchchicks]

So I just contacted Amazon about getting a replacement Hova Bator 1588 since this one is not adjusting. BUT I have 42 eggs that I picked up yesterday and was letting them sit for 24 hours prior to placing. Amazon told me that the seller would have to replace the bator. They are obviously closed but I am going to call them in the morning. I am hoping that they will over night the new bator to me. But in the mean time my eggs are just sitting here. I know that they have been collected over the last week. So my question is, do I put them in this bator knowing that the temp is 2* low and then transfer to the new bator when it arrives? Or do I let them sit and hope they are still okay to place if my bator takes a few days to get here? UGH!!! I can't believe this! French Copper Maran eggs!!!!

 

[WVduckchick]

I would wait and see if the company will overnite it to you first. If not, and its going to be a few days, that's alot of eggs to lose. They say they should be fine up to 10 days or so old, but I think I would set them at the lower temp, once they get to 10 days. Also keep tilting/turning them until you set them. Others may disagree...

 

[kuchchicks]

It is a lot of eggs... I spent quite a bit on the Copper Marans... unfortunately also started a fight with the hubby over the cost... ugh! So it would really make things bad if I lost them.... Not that I would be okay with loosing my silkies. I had a hard time finding them in my area. I don't want to loose those either. So frustrated because this thing ran like a dream for my entire hatch that ended Sunday. I just don't understand how/why it would lose it's accuracy. I literally unplugged it Monday morning and wiped it out. Let it dry. And plugged it back in today. UGH!!!!

 

[WVduckchick]

Did you try unplugging it again and letting it sit for a few minutes, check all your connections, etc, plug back in and see if it will heat up?

 

[WVduckchick]

Also, are you going by the Bator itself or independent thermometers? And are you checking that temp with it empty? I've seen where people will add things like water bottles to have something in there to get temps set.

 

[kuchchicks]

Thanks for all of the tips. I did try all of those things (minus the water bottles) to no avail. So I finally got through to the manufacturer and the technician was able to help me to get it set. It is now reading where it was before (2 of my thermometers which are cooking thermometers are reading 99.5 and 99.6 which is what they read during my entire last hatch, and another thermometer is reading 101.1 - from incubator warehouse and it was always reading that same temp during my last hatch as well). So I now have it out of set mode and am going to let it sit for a couple of hours to make sure that it is staying true. I do feel the need now though to go out and maybe get a medical thermometer to "quadruple" check it... since it ran so well the first time through and then suddenly changed now I am afraid of trusting it. The technician did tell me that they are not supposed to be run above 65% humidity and I did keep mine at 70%-75% during lockdown. He said that the humidity above 65% could cause problems with the thermostat. So now I'm stuck between a rock and a hard place.... I got a great hatch last time with the higher humidity at lock down but at the same time I do not want to ruin the bator!

 

[WVduckchick]

Oh so glad you got it sorted out! That's interesting about higher humidity affecting the thermostat. Will have to look into that.

 

[lazy gardener]

I had my thermostat go wonky with my first hatch. I don't remember what the humidity was, but at lock down, it went crazy. Same thermostat, same incubator... this hatch, i let it run up to 85%, there was condensation on the window, and the temps stayed true. go figure!